- THE 2018 LPE FINAL RESULTS HAVE BEEN COMMUNICATED VIA EMAIL TO INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES -

Successful candidates may print their LPE certificate from their Inspira account under "My Learning”.
To request a spelling correction to their name, candidate must raise a support ticket in Inspira through “Contact us”. The certificate can then be reprinted to reflect the change.
Candidate LPE status has been updated, for those who sat for the exam, in Inspira as follows: "Completed" for successful candidates; and "Not completed" for unsuccessful candidates.

Test sites and participating agencies have been notified of the 2018 final results.

Please check this website regularly for updated information.

LPE - Process and Timeline

Applicants should determine their eligibility and prepare required supporting documentation before registration period begins. Any questions applicants may have should be addressed to the Test Site‘s Local Administrator. For detailed information, please click on the appropriate steps in the table below:

Deadline

2018 LPE - Process and Timeline

15 March 2018

1. Announcement of participating test sites and fee-paying entities

The participating Test Sites and entities may change from year to year depending on local needs and resources available. The Examinations and Tests Section (ETS) has collected participation requests from Test Sites and nominations of Finance Focal Points from fee-paying entities.

If no test site is available at your duty station, please consult your HR/Administrative office or person to inquire about their willingness to host and administer the current LPE. If so, please ask them to contact oahunlpe@un.org before 14 March 2018 for further instructions.

*Please note that it was decided by the General Assembly in A/RES/70/244 para. 22 to discontinue the current practice of granting accelerated step increments for staff members in the professional category, including accelerated increments granted after staff members have established proficiency in a second language. Please note that UNLPE or local LPE Administrators are not in a position to answer any queries on this topic.

LPE eligibility criteria document approved by Human Resources Policy Service (HRPS), Office of Human Resources Management can be found at the link given below.

Applicants, who are eligible based upon "the use of language on a regular basis for work", are asked to attach to their application in Inspira the verification letter form signed by their Supervisor and Head of Office.

Applicants with appointments that expire prior to the date of the LPE written examination, are asked to attach to their application in Inspira a letter from the Executive Officer or the head of administration at offices away from Headquarters and field duty stations expressing the intent to extend the contract beyond the written exam date.

Applicants should determine their eligibility and prepare required supporting documents ahead of registration period. Any questions applicants might have should be addressed to the corresponding Test Site‘s Local Administrator.

10 April - 2 May 2018

3. Applicant registration period

It is the responsibility of applicants to submit a completed and accurate application in Inspira by the deadline. Once an application is successfully submitted in Inspira, the applicant will receive an email confirming their LPE registration. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure their email contact information in Inspira is correct, to ensure proper communication.

Special Needs Procedure
Individual cases of candidates in need of a special accommodation will be reviewed by the Board. The candidate must complete the ADA Special Accommodations Questionnaire with his or her application. This questionnaire, along with its requested documentation, should be emailed to oahunlpe@un.org by the end of the registration period.

Change of Test Site
Candidates who wish to change Test Site within the application period should drop any existing application and create a new application for the Test Site where they wish to sit for the exam. Candidates who want to change Test Site after registration period can do so only if there is an unexpected change of work location.

10 April - 4 May 2018

4. Screening of applications by Local Administrators (applicants should monitor their email messages)

The Local Administrator at each Test Site will screen the applications according to the eligibility criteria. Local Administrators might contact applicants anytime during this period to request further information or documentation. If so, it is the responsibility of applicants to upload the requested supporting documents within this screening period AND resubmit their application in Inspira. Applicants should check their Inspira status and email regularly for communication regarding the status of their application.

7 - 11 May 2018

5. Final chance for applicants to respond to pushed-back applications, if applicable

During this period, NO new applications can be accepted. This is the final opportunity for applicants with existing applications (that have been pushed back by the Local Administrator) to upload the requested additional supporting documents and resubmit their applications, so screening can be finalize by the Local Administrator. If an applicant fails to provide the additional documents within this period, their applications will be rejected.

14 - 16 May 2018

6. Final screening of pushed-back applications by Local Administrators

The Local Administrator will screen all pending applications, either accepting those that meet the eligibility requirements, or rejecting those that do not fulfil the eligibility requirements or lack supporting documents.

30 May - 6 June 2018

7. Endorsement of registration fee by fee-paying entities

Applications from staff members belonging to fee-paying entities which meet the non-financial eligibility criteria will be passed onto respective focal points for endorsement. Only applicants whose applications are endorsed, i.e. their parent organization agrees to pay the LPE registration fee, will be invited to the LPE. Financial focal points might contact applicants during this period to request for further information. Applicants should check their Inspira status and email regularly.

The oral part of the LPE consists of an interview of up to 15 minutes conducted by an interviewer, to obtain a sample of the candidate's linguistic competence in the language being tested.

The interview will be scheduled by each Test Site‘s Local Administrator depending on availability of interviewer. The interview schedule will be communicated to candidates by their Local Administrator.

December 2018

12. Announcement of results

Throughout

Applicants should regularly check their emails and LPE website for updates. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure their email contact information in Inspira is correct, to ensure proper communication.

LPE EXAM FORMAT

WRITTEN PART
The written part of the LPE consists of a series of multiple-choice questions covering listening comprehension, a composition, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar.Subtest I : Listening Comprehension (25 points) (40 minutes)
The listening comprehension subtest consists of a series of recorded texts followed by multiple-choice questions. The texts will test comprehension of dialogues, single sentences, news items and an interview. You will hear each text twice and you may take notes. The answers to these and to all other multiple-choice questions will be marked on a separate answer sheet. The approximate length of the listening comprehension subtest is forty minutes, the exact time depending on the length of the recorded texts. A pause is provided after each question for you to select your response.Subtest II : Composition (20 points) (50 minutes)
For the composition you will be given two topics, each related to work or personal experience. After choosing one topic, you will write at least 200 words in the examination booklet provided. Your writing will be principally judged on the basis of your control of vocabulary and syntax, the coherence of your paragraphs and your range of expression.Subtest III : Reading Comprehension (30 points) (60 minutes)
In the reading comprehension subtest, you will be given several passages to read. Most of the passages will be one or two paragraphs long while the remaining passages will each be five paragraphs long. After each of the shorter paragraphs, you will answer one or two multiple-choice questions, and after each of the longer passages, you will answer up to seven multiple-choice questions. The suggested time for this section, sixty minutes, should be ample for you to read the texts and mark your answers.Subtest IV : Vocabulary (10 points) (15 minutes)
The vocabulary subtest is made up of two types of questions. For the first ten questions, you will be asked to select the word which most logically and appropriately completes each sentence. In the following ten questions, you will choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined word in each sentence.Subtest V : Grammar (15 points) (25 minutes)
In the grammar subtest, you are given thirty sets of sentences. One of the sentences in each set is incomplete. You are to select the word or words that best fit the context both from a syntactic and logical point of view.ORAL PART
The oral part of the proficiency examination consists of an interview up to 12 minutes long, conducted by one person. The purpose of the oral part is to obtain a sample of the candidate''s linguistic competence in the language being tested. In order to preserve the anonymity of the candidates and to ensure that the grading of the oral part is fair and objective, the interview will be recorded and all recordings will be coded and corrected anonymously. United Nations Headquarters will then listen to the recorded interview and evaluate it on the basis of fluency, comprehension, correctness and range of expression. As fluency and range of expression are important components of the overall evaluation, it is in your best interest to speak as much as possible during the interview. This will also give the evaluators the largest possible sample on which to base their evaluation.

LPE contact information
For inquiries from individuals at UNHQ: email unlpeny@un.org
For inquiries from individuals based at other duty stations, please refer to list of participating test sites included in the LPE - Process and Timeline mentioned above.